From the parks to the roof line
Tree canopies pose little challenge to a grey squirrel, and a branch reaching over a roof acts as a ready-made bridge to the eaves, much as it does near Vauxhall, where riverside tower blocks and newer developments close to the railway arches. A house close to mature trees only has to have one weak spot at the roofline before a squirrel gets in, whether that's near Tulse Hill, where residential streets and estates on the rising ground between Brixton and Herne Hill, or elsewhere in the borough.
Streets around Streatham Common
The Victorian terraces backing onto Streatham Common sit beneath some of the borough's oldest street trees, and a check at the eaves each autumn is worth doing here before a quiet loft turns noisy over winter.
Herne Hill and Brockwell Park
The villas and terraces near Herne Hill station and Brockwell Park have mature gardens of their own as well as the park close by, giving squirrels more than one route onto nearby roofs.
Confirming it is a squirrel
When it happens tends to be the most reliable clue, true near Brixton too, where dense Victorian terraces and converted flats around the market and the town centre. Timing gives it away: squirrels are only active during daylight hours, so early-morning and late-afternoon thumping fits a squirrel, while any noise overnight means rats or mice, as anyone near Herne Hill will recognise, where victorian villas and terraces near the railway station and Brockwell Park.
What not to do
- Block the entry hole while squirrels may still be inside; they chew a new way out, sometimes into the house
- Put down poison in the loft
- Catch a squirrel and release it elsewhere
One point is purely legal rather than practical, grey squirrels are classed as invasive non-natives, and releasing a trapped one back into the wild is illegal - the same pattern holds near Streatham, where a mix of Victorian terraces and postwar blocks along the high road towards Streatham.
Booking squirrel control in Lambeth
Our squirrel trapping service in Lambeth is £280, and since around Kennington, where georgian and Victorian terraces close to the park, it helps to say when you book squirrel control whether the sounds are by day or night and whether trees overhang the roof, with more on the Lambeth squirrel control page.
